Under the Surface (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Steve is curious about a memory of Catherine and Carrie's.


**Notes:** The flashback in this story takes place directly after the ones in _Firsts_ and _Some Things Never Change_.

Mari and Sammy – happy anniversary, ladies! (I couldn't resist just one more.) Thank you for your unending enthusiasm and your friendship.

Esther – thank you for risking a computer virus to work your magic :-)

Readers and REAL McRollers – Thank YOU for your continued support! It truly does mean the world and we are so very grateful every day for you all.

Special thank you for the wonderful anniversary emails, tweets, and Tumblr comments! They were much appreciated.

Hope you enjoy!

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><p><em>Under the Surface (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)<em>

"_That_ was fantastic," Carrie said as she and Catherine stepped into the café near the spa. "I always feel amazing after a massage. I could go every week."

"I know," Catherine agreed.

"Welcome," the hostess said. "How many today, ladies?"

"There will be four of us," Catherine told her.

"Okay, follow me, please."

As they were led to their table, Carrie continued.

"I still can't believe you got Steve – _Steve McGarrett_ – to agree to a massage."

"Mm . . ." Catherine acknowledged. "More than once."

"Amazing. I've been trying to convince John for years."

"The secret is not to tell him where you're going first."

Carrie chuckled and the two took their seats.

Catherine was just opening the menu when her phone buzzed. She pulled it from her pocket and checked the text message.

"It's from Steve," she said. "He's running late but he'll be here in a few minutes."

"And that's probably John," Carrie said at the sound of her own phone and looked at the screen. "He'll be _more_ than a few minutes late." She looked up at Catherine. "Got held up at the base. Says to start without him."

"Which you would have done anyway."

"He knows me well."

Catherine smiled. "Tends to happen after so many years together."

"Hey, you and Steve have known each other even longer."

"Yeah, but we spent a few years just friends."

"You were never 'just friends' and you know it." Carrie chuckled. "God, I remember that first night you came back after you met him."

Catherine smiled as she thought about that night.

_Carrie was reading on her bunk when Catherine entered their room._

"_Well, there she is," Carrie said, setting down her textbook._

"_What?" Catherine said as she closed the door behind her. "It's barely nine o'clock."_

"_And how was your evening?" Carrie asked with a knowing smile._

"_It was fine." She threw her roommate a suspicious look as she started to change out of her uniform. "Why?"_

"_I was just wondering." Carrie straightened and turned, dangling her legs over the side of her bunk. "I mean, Laura ran into you at the diner and all I got from her was that you were ditching us for some tall, dark, and handsome third class mid."_

" '_Tall, dark, and hand_–_', oh, come on," Catherine said. She pulled on shorts and a t-shirt. "And I didn't ditch you. You guys weren't even sure what you were going to do. That's why I went to grab a milkshake in the first place."_

"_And then you went on a date."_

"_It was absolutely not a date," Catherine insisted as she climbed up onto her own bunk. "We just had dinner. Nothing . . . happened," she finished with a slight hitch in her voice._

_Carrie's smile widened, and she leaned forward eagerly. _

"_Ohhh, that doesn't sound like 'nothing.' Come on. You are holding out on me, Rollins. I need details."_

"_There are no details."_

"_Of course there are details." Carrie hopped down from her bunk and joined Catherine on hers. "What's his name?"_

_Catherine sighed in resignation. "Steve McGarrett."_

"_Is he cute?"_

_Catherine rolled her eyes, but Carrie just raised her eyebrows expectantly._

"_He's . . . yes," Catherine admitted. "He's very cute."_

"_Uh huh. And?"_

"_And . . . what? He's . . . smart, obviously. Very confident." She smiled to herself. "Funny."_

"_So? What happened?"_

"_Nothing happened."_

_Carrie scoffed. "I don't believe that for a second. You're blushing. What's the problem? You broke up with your boyfriend a couple months ago."_

"_Yes. Because we were going to different schools, and we both wanted to focus on our studies."_

"_Well, not a problem here. Same school."_

"_There are regs."_

"_Okay, yes," Carrie acknowledged. "There are regs. But you won't always be a plebe."_

"_That's not why I'm here, Carrie."_

"_That's not why any of us are here, Cath. Doesn't mean it can't happen at some point in the future. Stop avoiding the question."_

"_I'm not avoiding anything."_

"_Well, you haven't answered the question. What happened?"_

_Catherine sighed, and her hand drifted to her cheek unconsciously at the memory of Steve wiping barbecue sauce from her face. _

"_There was . . . a moment."_

"_I knew it!" Carrie crowed. _

"_But, like I said, that's not why I'm here."_

"_Then why'd you go to dinner?"_

"_I was hungry." She rubbed the side of her neck, and a small smile appeared on her face. "And he owed me."_

"_What?"_

_Catherine shrugged. "I did him a favor, he repaid me with dinner. As _friends_," she stressed the word. "And if we hang out again, it'll be as friends." _

_Carrie studied her for a moment, and then said in a skeptical tone, "Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that."_

_Catherine shook her head at her roommate in surrender._

"No matter what you said, I was never convinced."

Carrie's voice across the table brought Catherine back to the present.

"Cuz I knew, even then . . ."

"Knew what?" Steve asked, joining them at the table.

"Hey," Catherine said and smiled up at him. He leaned down to kiss her briefly.

"Hey, Carrie," he said, looking across the table at her.

"Hey, yourself."

Steve took a seat next to Catherine.

"Knew what?" he asked again.

Catherine and Carrie exchanged a look.

"Oh," Carrie started. "Um . . ."

"Ah, must be girl talk," Steve said with a nod. "Classified."

Catherine tilted her head and smiled. "I don't know. I think we could probably de-classify this particular file. It has been eighteen years."

"Wow," Steve said as he looked between them. "Deep in the archives for this one."

"I was just saying how I knew from the first night you two met that there was something going on."

"There wasn't anything going on then," Steve said. "Nothing happened that night."

"Oh, something happened," Carrie insisted. "Just not . . . an overt something. I mean, neither one of you was going to risk your spot with it being Cath's first year." She shook her head. "I had only known Cath for two months at that point, but I could tell by the way she talked that night. Something definitely happened. Just . . . under the surface."

Catherine and Steve looked at each other and shared a soft smile.

After a moment, Catherine's smile grew. "I said you were cute."

"She said you were _very_ cute," Carrie continued.

"Oh yeah?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows and smiling broadly.

"I also said you were very cocky."

"She said confident."

"Thanks, Care," Catherine said, glancing at her. "I was actually trying to rein in his ego a little."

Carrie laughed. "God knows it needs it."

Steve looked at Catherine doubtfully and said, "You like my ego just the way it is."

"Case in point," she said to Carrie.

The three laughed and continued talking companionably until their server came to take their orders.

John joined the group later and after finishing lunch, the two couples parted ways with plans to play pool soon.

Once outside the restaurant, Steve turned to Catherine and said, "It's a nice day. Wanna walk down to Irwin Park? Enjoy the fact that we haven't gotten called in for a case today?"

She gave him a reproachful look. "You know you just jinxed it."

He grinned, and they started off in the direction of the park.

They walked down Alakea Street. Catherine shifted closer to Steve to let a group of people walk by. Her hand brushed Steve's, and he caught it in his. Even as she shifted back, he kept hold of her hand. She looked up at him and smiled, squeezing his fingers as he returned her smile.

The walk was spent mostly in silence, but when they reached the park, Steve spoke.

" 'Very cute,' huh?"

Catherine rolled her eyes and said, "You were, yeah."

"Were?" he asked in surprise.

She grinned. "I mean, you got those gray hairs now . . ." she said, pointing at his temple.

He straightened. "They make me look dignified."

"Dignifi–" Her smile was teasing. "That's . . . is that what you're going with?"

"Yeah, I've thought about it. That's what I'm going with."

He returned her smile then looked forward again.

"Steve." She stopped walking and pulled him back around to face her, keeping hold of his hand.

He raised his eyebrows in question.

"You were 'very cute' back then, because I barely knew you," she said. "Now . . ." she shook her head with a serious expression on her face. "You are the most attractive man I've ever known. Or ever will know. And that is because I know you inside and out." She squeezed his hand. "And what's inside . . . what's under the surface . . . is incredible."

There was a long pause, but his gaze never left hers. When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse.

"And you are by far the most beautiful woman I've ever known or ever will. Inside and out. You–" he swallowed hard. "You amaze me," he finished quietly.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and she tugged him closer for a light but heartfelt kiss.

Catherine lifted her lips from his but moved barely an inch from his face.

"Really wish we weren't at the park right now," she said softly, a smile wrinkling her nose.

"Head home?" he asked, unable to prevent his own smile from appearing.

"If we make it that far."

He grinned, and they turned to start walking back to their vehicles. They had taken only a few steps when Steve's phone buzzed in his pocket. Exchanging a knowing look and a final squeeze of their fingers, they released each other's hand and picked up their pace as they simultaneously reached for their phones.

"McGarrett," Steve said. He paused, listening. Nodding once, he smiled at Catherine who was preparing to alert the rest of their team. "We're on the way."

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><p><em>Looking for links to all the REAL McRoll stories in one place? Check out our tumblr page: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com<em>

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